RECOVERY AND WELLNESS CAMPUS – SAN MARCOS
Overview:
Interfaith Community Services (Interfaith) in partnership with Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation envisions a Recovery and Wellness Campus that will provide critical residential substance use disorder (SUD) recovery treatment to members of the surrounding community.
This proposal brings together an award-winning team with extensive experience in designing, operating and managing affordable housing communities and providing impactful human services. Our project vision provides a holistic solution to one of the most critical issues facing the City of San Marcos and County of San Diego: a shortage of resources that provide community members with a pathway to sober living through impactful treatment and behavioral health services.
The project will fund the new construction of a 150-bed campus for expanded substance use disorder treatment, inclusive of:
• A 35-bed Withdrawal Management program (ASAM 3.2) that includes 32 Drug Medi-Cal withdrawal management beds and 3 other payer beds. This will consist of a congregate space with 35 treatment beds designed to allow for 24/7 monitoring by staff.
• A 90-bed Residential Treatment program (ASAM 3.1 and 3.5) that includes 68 Drug Medi-Cal residential treatment beds and 22 other payer beds. The treatment program will feature 47 rooms with a mixture of 2 and 4 beds floorplans.
• 25 post-hospitalization beds that provide individuals completing treatment up to 6 months of transitional sober living.
The Recovery and Wellness Campus will be operated as a partnership between Interfaith and the San Marcos United Methodist Church, supporting community engagement, family reunification, community building, and social enterprise. Additionally, the campus will provide workforce development opportunities for Palomar College students completing Substance Use Disorder treatment certification programs.
Project Site & Facility:
The project site is located at 800 W Mission Road, San Marcos, CA, 92069. The site is owned by the San Marcos United Methodist Church. UMC will enter into a long-term lease agreement with Interfaith.
The total building size is approximately 49,000 sq ft. The campus will have two primary buildings:
• BUILDING 1 will house the residential treatment program and is a three-floor building with approximately 42,000 sq ft.
• BUILDING 2 will house the withdrawal management program and is a single-story building with approximately 7,000 sq. Ft.
Additional campus features will include:
• 24/7 site security and staffing
• Secure lobby/welcome area
• On-site professional catering kitchen
• Dining hall
• Staff offices
• Meeting spaces for 1:1 treatment, groups, and family visitation • Gym/physical therapy space
• Outdoor pathways, seating, and recreational areas
• Estimated 62 parking spaces
Project Funding and Cost
Interfaith is seeking funding under the State of California DHCS Bond Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (Bond BHCIP), Round 1 application. Bond BHCIP funding provides unique opportunity to fund 90% of total project cost, including automatic local ministerial zoning approvals.
The total project cost currently estimated at $40 - $60M • 90% funding to be secured by State CA Bond BHCIP grant • Interfaith responsible for securing 10% matching funds of $4 - $6M
5-Year Operating Pro-forma:
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Total Revenue $9,377,443 $9,658,766 $9,948,529 $10,246,985 $10,554,395 Total Expenses $8,947,123 $9,215,537 $9,492,003 $9,776,763 $10,070,066 Net Operating
Income
$430,320 $443,230 $456,526 $470,222 $484,329
Operations of the 150 beds will be funded by multiple payers:
• 100 Residential Treatment and Withdrawal Management beds funded by Drug Medi-Cal; • 25 Residential Treatment and Withdrawal Management beds funded by other payers (combination of STOP, private insurance, or self-pay);
• 25 post-hospitalization short term beds funded by CalAIM contracts with Managed Care Plans.
The financial model currently shows an approximate 5% margin.
Award Timing and Completion Dates
• Application due date: December 13, 2024, 5 PM PST
• Notification (Award Announcements): May 2025
• Contracting: Grantees must commit to executing Bond BHCIP contracts within 90 days of conditional award notice.
• Expenditure: Awarded grant funding must be fully expended within five years of receipt of conditional award notice.
Community Need
In San Diego County, there was an 869% increase in accidental fentanyl-caused deaths from 2017 to 2021, with a 76% increase in the one-year period of 2020 to 2021—prompting the County to declare illegal fentanyl a public health crisis (Source: San Diego County Department of the Medical Examiner 2021 Annual Report). In 2021, fentanyl was a causative factor of death in 62% (814 of 1,308) of accidental overdose cases in the county. The highest percentage of opioid-related deaths were in persons aged 20-59, which represents 96% of the population treated by RWC in the past year.
Further, a growing body of evidence demonstrates a disproportionate overdose mortality rate among the unsheltered population. County data reveals 203 homeless San Diegans died of overdoses involving fentanyl in 2021 (more than double the 2020 count) and in the 1st quarter of 2022 fentanyl deaths among unhoused residents were up 23 percent from the same period last year.
Data from the San Diego County Access & Crisis Line shows 54 percent of the 6,395 referrals for substance use services via the call system in FY24 were for residential treatment options including detox.
There were more referrals for detox than any other service. Yet, getting a detox bed is especially challenging. Waits for treatment beds that often extend long beyond a single day can be excruciating and, amid the overdose crisis, these delays can be deadly.
On Dec. 5, 2023 the San Diego City Council declared a “behavioral health crisis” due to the lack of available behavioral health beds in the city. A recent survey of hospital members found that on any given day in the HASD&IC region, about 50 patients who are medically ready for discharge remain in general acute care hospitals awaiting placement in long-term care behavioral health beds. As hospital members work to ensure patients can access the care they need, the lack of behavioral health beds and community services is a major factor in discharge delays.
The proposed project will allow Interfaith to significantly increase the numbers of people it can serve through its SUD recovery programs. RWC’s treatment model will contribute to lowering the number of drug and alcohol related deaths and accidental overdoses, treating SUD and mental health conditions, and initiating housing options to decrease homelessness.